LOCKE, Richard Adams, journalist, born in New York in 1800; died on Staten island, 16 February, 1871. He was at one time editor of the "New York Sun" and "The New Era," but in consequence of feeble health he left journalism several years before his death, and received an appointment in the New York custom house. In 1835 he created a sensation by the publication of what purported to be the astronomical observations, especially on the moon, of Sir John Herschel, the younger, at the Cape of Good Hope, describing in detail, among other things, the discovery of lunar inhabitants. The whole account was so plausible and circumstantial that it was believed even by many scientific men. It is generally known as the "Moon Hoax," and was reprinted in a pamphlet (New York, 1871). Afterward he wrote "The Lost Manuscript of Mungo Park," another hoax.